The Pioneers of LIU Post capped a successful Florida trip with a dramatic 8-7 victory over Bloomfield College. Freshman Dave Brehm beat out an infield single between shortstop and third base for the winning run, which was their fourth win in five games in Florida.
Coach Gaffney sent freshman James Varela to the hill, who had gotten off to a very strong start to his career. He struggled today, however, allowing four ER in five innings and left with the Pioneers trailing 5-2.
Reliever Dillon Burke allowed two runs to score in the seventh to increase the deficit to 7-3. At that point, it appeared unlikely they would head home on a positive note.
The offense went to work in the eighth inning, though, beginning with an RBI double by first baseman David Groeneveld to score Joe Spitaleri. Kyle Fagan singled to score Thomas Asbaty to cut the lead to 7-5.
J.P. Lipovac came on in the ninth inning and threw a spotless inning to give his offense a chance to comeback.
In the bottom of the ninth, Salvatore Geraci led off and was hit by a pitch. The following batter, Jimmy Mendyk, walked to put the winning run at the plate. Leadoff man Rob Andreoli singled to load the bases. Spitaleri walked to bring in a run, making it 7-6 in favor of Bloomfield. After a strikeout by Asbaty and a line out to centerfield by Groeneveld, Fagan was drilled with a pitch to load the bases for Dave Brehm.
The Connetquot grad displayed his wheels by beating out the infield single to complete the comeback for the Pioneers and conclude their Florida trip on a bright note.
The victory improves their record to 6-7. They will be back in action on Tuesday, March 15 in their home opener against American International College at 3:30 pm.
